On 24 April 2013, a factory collapsed in the Savar subdistrict of Bangladesh,
killing more than 1,100 people and injuring more than 3,000. Three years later,
the name of that factory is synonymous with irresponsible business practices:
Rana Plaza. Following the disaster, many reports came out about the working
conditions in the factory, overcrowding and the substandard construction of
the factory itself. The criticism was not just confi ned to the Rana Plaza factory,
but was directed at the whole of the Bangladeshi clothing industry and its buyers, many of which are company brands based in the European Union (EU).
Garments from Rana Plaza were allegedly made for Spanish clothing giant Zara,
Italian fashion house Benetton, and Irish retailer Primark.